Why Subscribe to New Releases Newsletters?

Like a lot of independent authors, about a year ago I started a New Releases Newsletter.

The purpose is sending you timely notification when I release a new title. Additionally, I will send some exclusive previews of scenes or short stories that may or may not be published at a later date in a bundle or an anthology. No spam. No chatty mails about the cute antics of the kitty I don’t have or my personal gripes with the grocery or my annoying Aunt Beth. Just a notification of new books and the occasional freebie, and a link in each mail to unsubscribe whenever you feel like it, no questions asked.

Some may wonder why. Do authors think we need more emails? Doesn’t Amazon offer a similar service, on the author’s personal page? One click and you’re done. Sounds easy enough, doesn’t it? So, why subscribe to New Releases Newsletters?

Yes it does sound easy, doesn’t it? You won’t get the freebies of course, but then again, maybe you don’t care about those. Otherwise, this would be a good solution, were it not that the service doesn’t always work. I’ve sometimes discovered months later that an author had published a new book. No mail from Amazon. It can get even worse. Just today, May 11th, I got a mail from Amazon notifying me that a colleague has released a new book… on the first of May.

At first sight being notified ten days late doesn’t seem such a big deal. Except, some authors — and I plan to do this too — discount new releases for a very limited time, e.g. the first two days. We do this because Amazon will put a book high on its lists if it sells a lot of copies in a short time frame. In this way a new book gets a lot of visibility, which leads to new readers. So, this is not the author being generous. This is the author saying, “Thank you for helping me gain visibility.”

Amazon’s system is a bit hit and miss. More miss than hit. You risk missing out on a bargain offer, and you definitely miss out on freebies.

If you really like the books of some authors, it’s both in your and their interest that you subscribe to their new releases mailing list. You’ve got nothing to lose since you can unsubscribe at any moment, and there is a convenient link in all mails to do just that. Most of us use a service — I use MailChimp — because sending out mass emails isn’t as simple as it looks. It is the service who manages the subscriptions, not the author.

In the case of just a new releases and freebies newsletter your mailbox won’t be flooded.

So why not subscribe to the new releases newsletters of your favorite authors while you’re on their site anyway? It’s just a matter of filling out your mail address. It’s quick, easy, and guarantees you will be notified as soon as they release a new book so you can make use of any discounts they offer.